Juan Díaz (first baseman)

Juan Carlos Díaz (born February 19, 1974) is a retired Cuban professional baseball first baseman/designated hitter. Listed at 6' 2", 228 lb., Díaz batted and threw right-handed. He spent part of the 2002 season in Major League Baseball with the Boston Red Sox.

Díaz was a veteran of fourteen minor league seasons. He started his baseball career in 1997 with the Los Angeles Dodgers organization, playing for them two years before joining the Boston (2000–02), Baltimore (2003), Minnesota (2004), and St. Louis systems. In 2007, he played for the independent Joliet JackHammers of the Northern League. He split 2008 between the JackHammers and the Tecolotes de Nuevo Laredo of the Mexican League.

In four major league games with the Red Sox, Díaz posted a .286 batting average (two-for-seven) with one home run, two RBI, two runs, one double, a .375 OBP, and a .857 SLG. His only home run came on June 23, when he hit a two-run shot) off Dodgers pitcher Andy Ashby in a 9–6 loss.^[1]

From 1997 through 2008, Díaz made 936 minor league appearances, hitting for a .301 average (999-for-3209) with 230 home runs and 719 RBI.

Diaz played the 2010 baseball season for the Winnipeg Goldeyes in the Northern League. He is rumored to be retiring to spend time with his family. On January 27, 2011, it was announced that he was released by Winnipeg. Then retired 2 months later.

See also

• List of baseball players who defected from Cuba

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Retrosheet